she sells seashells ...

Mitra cotton top, thrifted

beach INC linen shorts, Macy's

Amrita Singh "Marion" earrings, HauteLook

bracelets, c/o third-graders

       One would think that taking photos against your bedroom wall would be a no-brainer. One would also think that someone *ahem* would know how to tinker with the exposure to compensate for extremely strong 4 p.m. light. Sorry that these photos are washed out!
      I'm pleased to have scored another gauzy cotton top for summer at Goodwill recently. I really like the maroon, white and orange print, and the seashell print ended up being perfect for my visit to the aquarium!

      Before heading to the aquarium, I visited Market Day at my friend's school. The kids were selling various items and services - everything from a chance to get a massage, play games like pin the tail on the donkey or ring toss, or items ranging from keychains, brownies (there were a lot of brownies!), spring rolls, bracelets, bookmarks, and more. I picked up my new bracelets with "teacher dollars." I wish that " teacher dollars" worked at real stores ... ;)

blogging challenge, day 24: at my worst

 Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits.

1. I am a procrastinator. I admire those people who get things before they are due, like the person in my social computing class who posted her final paper A WEEK EARLY while the rest of us were feverishly writing. I think the procrastination stems from avoidant tendencies - if I'm worried or anxious about doing something, I take my mind off it by diddling around Pinterest for an hour. This doesn't help me in the long run, as I lose valuable work time. I've realized lately that being a procrastinator means I have a hard time assessing just how much time I really need to complete a task. I think becoming a teacher has helped me become less avoidant - it's my job to address things that happen in my classroom that aren't helpful, safe or productive - but the procrastination is something I need to work on. Maybe tomorrow. (just kidding!)
2. I own a lot of stuff. And I am disorganized. Mentally, I am not disorganized. It's very easy for me to organize my thoughts to write a coherent essay. Thus, many people I know mistake me as an organized person. But when it comes to physical stuff ... I look at things and am at an utter loss. I own several books on organizing, but have never really gotten around to implementing their principles (see number 1). One of the biggest challenges for me in becoming a teacher was having to not only organize myself, but to organize a shared physical space for students to use as well as providing the tools and procedures to organize students' personal spaces (desks, cubbies, etc). Yikes. I made huge improvements in this from my first year of teaching to my second, both for me and for the students. But it's still something I struggle with in life in general. I keep wondering whether there is an actual condition called "disorganizia" that I am afflicted with that scientists will uncover sometime soon, and that they will then begin devoting millions of research  dollars to solving. I'd volunteer to participate in a trial. ;)
3.  I can be my own worst critic. I have high expectations of myself and can feel crummy when I don't meet those expectations. I've gotten a lot better at questioning any self-criticism that arises and trying to look at it from a different angle, but I still think I put a lot of pressure on myself. I don't think having high expectations is all bad -- I've achieved a lot and am very motivated to build on my strengths and learn from my mistakes due to this trait. One of the biggest things I've learned is that mistakes can be constructive, if approached the right way. But now that I'm 35, I'm realizing how important it is for me to stop getting in my own way and to practice complete self-acceptance.

     It was interesting to write this, because I didn't expect that all my worst traits would be intertwined, but they are. Yay for a little self-knowledge gained through the challenge! :)

blogging challenge, day 23: life's lessons

Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

•  The beauty of failure. Failure sucks, but it can teach you and open new doors - if you let it. To benefit fully from your failures, however, you need to own them, and keep on owning them - even when you're successful.
• Find an avocation. Find something you truly love - something that challenges you, makes you happy, and keeps you excited. It's a great way to continue learning and growing and can be an excellent way to meet interesting people, too.
• There are mentors all around you. The older I get, the more amazed I am at how people, in various settings and at various times, have emerged as inspirations and mentors. Some mentors have only been in my life for a semester; others have been a presence for more than a decade. Some mentors I've gotten to know personally; others I've gotten to know purely by observing how they interact with others in the classroom or other settings. It's comforting to realize that there are so many people out there with knowledge and wisdom who are willing to share it and encourage you along your path.

will work for spaghetti

Merona buttondown, hand-me-down via E  

Grass linen capris, hand-me-down via R

Banana Republic necklace, gift

      It was one of those days when I put on my pants (multiple pairs, mind you!) and wondered why they felt so tight. Urgh. I'm betting/hoping it was just a post-lunchtime food baby ... 
      The neat thing about this outfit is that it's almost entirely comprised of hand-me-downs and gifts (except for the brown sandals I wore).
       I wore this to attend/help out at a showcase at a school I've worked at. (I'm a sucker for a free spaghetti dinner ...)  I wasn't sure exactly what I'd end up helping with -- ikebana? slinging spaghetti?-- and I didn't want to look too casual. I was shooting for a "teacher off-duty" look - practical, comfortable, but still a little put-together.
       After walking around and taking photos of the various activities, I ended up helping with the ikebana. Sadly, I wasn't the most helpful, given that I've only done ikebana once and wasn't even sure which branch is the subject and which one is the object, but the teacher was gracious and handled the crowd with aplomb and patience. At the end of the evening I ended up scrubbing spaghetti off the cafeteria tables before enjoying an ice-cold soda. 
     I was feeling a little down after my job interviews, so it was nice to attend and be warmly welcomed by one of the teachers I collaborated with when I was there. She even went so far as to mention a possible job opening, for which I'm grateful. It's nice to have a much more experienced teacher express faith in my abilities. :)
      Random story: These pants are not from R, but to be precise, R's aunt. R was at her aunt's house one day and with great amazement fished a brand-new bra - tags still on! - out of a rubbish can. R asked her aunt why the bra was in there, and her aunt replied that it didn't fit ... so rather than return it, she decided to toss it. Mind-boggling, huh?

Try-it-out Tuesday: Grecian

 

American City Wear maxi dress, Ross

brooches at shoulders, eBay

    I have a strange attraction to maxi dresses yet once I buy them, they end up hanging sad and lonely in my closet. I've resolved to wear them more this summer, regardless of what I'm doing (I think I feel that they're too dressy for everyday use.) Last week, I wore this to buy some crafting supplies. Using the brooches to gather the shoulders pushes this dress out of the casual zone, but I enjoyed wearing it anyhow. I felt comfortable and pretty, which is a great combination. :)

     The brooches aren't exactly the same, but I thought the fact that they were both gold-tone and had faux pearls made them similar enough.

     This is what happens when I try a different pose ... can you say awkward?!
      I think Try-it-out Tuesday is my favorite feature, but I've decided to make it an intermittent one so I can focus on featuring looks or styles that are really out of the norm for me. I'm also hoping to make my book-inspired "from the pages of" feature more than just a one-shot deal ...

inspiration Monday: A-line skirt fail

 The inspiration: Gwen Stefani

My take: 

 New York and Company chambray shirt, thrifted

Banana Republic A-line skirt, hand-me-down

earrings, gift from M

bracelets from third-grade Market Day

        On a whim I decided to stop at Goodwill during a weekday afternoon, and that's when I found this perfect chambray shirt. It fits well and the short sleeves mean I can wear it year-round. It was priced at $8.99, which is more than I'm usually willing to spend at Goodwill. However, I had tried on several chambray shirts from Old Navy and Ross and they didn't fit as well as this one (they were also all long-sleeved), so I decided to get it.

         I wanted this skirt to work on me, but my first foray into A-line skirts has left me unimpressed. The pocket placement is weird to me, and it keeps riding up and creasing across the hips. It could be that the skirt is just too small. I considered not posting the photo below, but I think it's a good reminder for me about what I don't want in a skirt.

 The ugly truth - yikes

    Anyhow, despite the bad fit of the skirt, I had fun wearing this. My friend treated me to breakfast - an omelet with the local requisite side dish, two scoops of rice liberally drizzled with shoyu. Then we topped things off with chocolate pudding crowned with dollops of whipped cream ... because it's really never too early for dessert. ;)

       Linking up with two birds' inspiration Monday! Click here to see the other participants' creative interpretations!

blogging challenge, day 20: struggling yet grateful

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

       Something I'm struggling with right now is that while I just graduated with my master's in library science, there are no jobs and it's back to the classroom next year. There are many things that I enjoy about being a classroom teacher, but it's still frustrating for me to not have my dream job. I know in previous years every graduate who already had their teaching license landed a school library job after graduation, but I think the field has reached its saturation point. 

       During the 2008-2009 school year, I had the amazing opportunity of subbing for an elementary school librarian for almost the entire year, and I still consider that one of the happiest years of my life.  Connecting children with the wonders of books and information is my passion, and I believe it's something I could be skilled at one day, with enough experience. 

       It's also frustrating to me that the school I used to work at has chosen to have someone without a library sciences degree run the library. There are exponentially fewer library jobs than teaching jobs, and this situation makes clear to me that some administrators do not see the importance of having a trained librarian. Some schools have even eliminated the position. One school I know of has two part-time teachers (both with no library training) running the library. A librarian is more than a person who checks out and reshelves books and reads stories; a librarian is a teacher, collaborator, leader, and resource. Going through the library program helped me realize how important it is that librarians advocate for both the library and the unique skills and understandings librarians bring to a school.

          While I'm disappointed, I am focusing on my blessings. I'm thankful that I am a tenured teacher and have a job. I am laying the groundwork for improvement - I made a number of improvements from my first year of teaching to my second, and am excited about further working on my weak points. I know this experience, ultimately, will only make me a  better librarian. I know that many of the skills I learned in the library program can help me be a better classroom teacher, particularly one professor's emphasis on assessment.